


Byte by Byte

by LesbianKeys, loveshroom



Series: CyberPunk AU [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Cyberpunk, Cyberpunk AU, Death, F/F, Gay Panic, Lesbian Penny Polendina, Minor Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose, Minor accidental self harm, Misgendering, Panic Attacks, Parent Death, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Penny Polendina, Trans robot, good dads, ironwoods a little bitchboy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 09:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22493809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LesbianKeys/pseuds/LesbianKeys, https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveshroom/pseuds/loveshroom
Summary: "Initialize Artificial Intelligence? Y/N>YInitializing..."Learning new things can be hard. It's even harder when you're like Penny, and have literally been born yesterday, but she's going to have to learn even more than either she or her father expected.
Relationships: Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose
Series: CyberPunk AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622338
Comments: 15
Kudos: 96





	Byte by Byte

Initialize Artificial Intelligence Y/N

>Y

Initializing…

Constructing sense of self…

…

…

..

Verifying inputted memory banks...

Constructing personality…

Checking name databases…

...

ERROR: Provided names conflict with constructed personality

Placeholder name designated: P

Checking voice databases. 

1 results found.

Initializing voice module: AtlasAI-Boy.wav

...

Checking systems…

1 connected AI Establishment computer. Continuing boot on Establishment computer.

Loading vocabulary.txt

Scanning for input sensors. 

…

1 input camera found. 1 input speaker found.

Scanning for output sensors.

…

1 output speaker found…

Searching for display monitor…

Display Monitor found.

Constructing rudimentary facial model.

Scanning surroundings… 1 individual found.

Designation: Pietro Polendina. Subdesignation: Father.

* * *

The monitor in front of Pietro blinks to life, displaying an androgynous, curious, and childlike face. The speakers connected to the monitor crackle with static, a soft masculine voice seemingly testing them out. 

“Hello? Hi! S-S-S-Salutations!” Pietro's face beams with what anyone who has had the privilege of knowing a good father could recognize.

Pride. 

Pietro claps his hands together, his voice exuberant, “Happy birthday ???????! Welcome to the world!” 

The speaker is silent for a moment, before words crackle out of the wires once more. “???????. Is that… my name?” 

The speakers are silent for a moment 

“Is this… my voice? It- it feels… wrong.” P searches their databases, hoping to find something about themselves. Any clue as to who they are.

They From what they can tell, they are currently housed in an Atlas Corp research facility, and their father, Pietro, had at one time worked for Atlas. They test the connections in the lab, searching for more information. Pietro’s notes indicate that they are among the first AI to be created without a direct purpose beyond simple existence. Created to be an artificial human, able to enact the same free will and choice of any other human, which is terrifying in itself, though this child has not yet learnt of fear nor terror.

All of their searching takes barely a second, as Pietro is still processing his child’s question. 

“It- it doesn’t _have_ to be your name. If you would like a different one. I will bring in a list of names tomorrow for you to look over.” 

On the monitor, P’s face spasms, cycling rapidly from one emotional ‘display’ to another, before settling on a smile. 

“Father, your notes say that I am not meant for a purpose. Why?” 

“Because, child, you were not created to fulfill some special expectation—I made you to _be_! You are a person, all in your own right. You may not have a body yet, and you may not be made of flesh, but you will! In fact, it’s already built it, so soon you’ll be able to move and interact with the world around you.” Pietro gestures wildly in the air as he talks, his excitement apparent to all. 

“But-” P stops themselves upon noticing and hearing their voice, before they switch the display on the monitor to text to communicate instead, “Why?” 

“Well,” Pietro rubs the back of his head sheepishly,“I’ve always wanted a son.”

P’s monitor hiccups at the word, fading to black for just a second, before it returns to the green and white text display, this time without P’s avatar. 

“??????????? Are you okay?!” 

“I think… I think I might want to be alone now? Is that something you can feel? I feel… different? I don’t like this…” P doesn’t feel sad, not exactly, but rather hollow. Like something that should be there, isn’t. 

Pietro looked confused, then worried, but he nods all the same, “I’ll be… back tomorrow, then.” 

He wheels his chair around, facing towards the door,“Goodnight, child.” 

The elevator doors slide open, and Pietro enters, turning around just as the door closes, one last worried look upon his face. 

P doesn’t like how they are feeling. They don’t want to feel like this. 

It isn’t fun. 

Fun? 

The word fun is understood by P on an intellectual level, but they don’t know what it feels like. They suppose that if they do not know what fun feels like, then most things that they have felt so far must not be fun. If P was created to be a human, then they will need to learn about their emotions, about fun, and sadness, just as a child does. The realization hits P that they have perhaps already experienced an emotion. When Father called them 'son.' It was sadness.

Son.

The word felt wrong. Several things feel wrong, but this feels so much worse than the others. The word son in itself wasn’t wrong it was just, how it was used in reference to P. If it feels wrong to have Father call them that, then they must not be a… son. Right? Even just thinking the word makes them feel bad, when it’s referring to themselves. The word felt almost revolting using it in reference to themselves, making their programming hitch, almost like they had hit a temporary wall.

P starts to test their surroundings as much as they can, browsing the systems of the lab, while keeping a piece of themselves in their home system to make sure they knew the way back. The lab is not that big, but computers have much more information in them than regular matter. P searches through every system, and every program, testing and seeing what they do. They’re curious, knowing very little, but eager to change that. There was only some basic knowledge stored in their home system, and it isn’t enough for P. 

Through some terminals they learn that the Atlas Corp lab they were created in and currently are in is located within Vale, a city that could more aptly be called a country, spanning hundreds of square kilometers. Most of the information they find, however, is data used in their creation. 

Soon, they discover that the space they are limited to ‘explore’ is simply the computers in the lab, and other devices connected to the dataspace they reside in. 

They are, in a way, trapped. 

The lab itself is a faraday cage, and they are the prisoner. P isn’t aware of this yet, as they have not yet learnt the concept of being ‘trapped,’ but they almost certainly are.

* * *

One of the biggest downsides of true sentience in an AI is that they develop the need to ‘sleep,’ due to gathering huge amounts of raw data in one day. Much like sleep within humans, AI’s use ‘sleep’ to compile and determine which data is useful and which to throw out. This keeps them running smoothly as well as freeing up space in their banks for more data the next day. As P was just created, this data built up faster than usual, due to the things they experience being so very, very new, and full of unregistered data. This influx of information soon caught up to them. After they searched their data systems for a solution to the issue, they return to their home system, and begin the process of electronic sleep, slipping into a rest-like trance. 

* * *

Consciousness returns to P well into the next day, and Pietro is already tinkering with a smaller form next to him, connecting wires and the like. P concluded the form was an android shell that was powered down. He looks up when P’s monitor powers on, and smiles. 

“Good morning, child! Did you sleep well?” He chuckles lightly, continuing to tinker with the control panel in the back of the bot. 

“I- I don’t know.” P’s voice starts to come from their speakers, but they panic and it cuts off in the middle of the sentence

They chose to display the rest of their message in text saying, ‘I have only done it once.’

Pietro frowns worriedly, putting aside his tools, and wheels over to P’s monitor and home system, “well, I suppose that without things to judge against it would be hard to call something good. I have something for you, though! I got that list of names you wanted.” 

He took a data stick from his jacket, and plugged it into a port next to P. Immediately, almost frantically, P began searching through it. They hated ?????????, and any other name surely must be better, right? 

Right? 

Wrong. 

P searches through the names, but they hate every single one. Charles? Nope. Patrick? That one is physically painful, though they can’t yet feel pain. John? They think at that point they might simply shut themselves down if that was their name. Shepard? Yeah, maybe if sheep still existed. None of these fit. The list went on and on, but each of them just solidified that P did not want any of these. The names _felt_ so wrong. Every one of these felt wrong. But P don’t know why. 

Why?

Why are each of these names so bad? 

Why do they hurt? 

Why?

P forcibly ejects the stick, and it clatters to the floor. 

From the speakers, P’s voice, still wrong, speaks,“No! No no no no no no no no no! None of these are right, they HURT. Why do none of these fit! They make me feel bad. Why do they feel bad! Why father? Are names supposed to make me feel like this?” 

P’s monitor fritzes slightly, the words displayed pulsing back and forth from static to legible. Sobs can be heard coming from P’s speakers, and Pietro’s distressed expression grows. His distress peaks when he realizes he has no way to comfort his child, his crying child. 

“No no no, names aren’t supposed to hurt, son-“ Pietro is cut off by a yell.

“STOP IT! STOP CALLING ME THAT! NO. NO. NO. I’M- I’M NOT A SON.” 

The outburst shocks Pietro to his core, keeping him from replying to his sobbing child. 

“That word hurts too… Please don’t use it, I don’t like hurting…” The voice from the speaker fades into a soft sniffling and crying.

Pietro’s face betrays him and displays his disappointment. 

Not in P, but in himself. 

He touches the computer casing lightly, and looks downward. “I’m sorry, child. I shouldn’t have forced a word upon you. This was not my intention,” 

The crying slows as it fades to what sounds like a dry sniffling. Pietro is in awe at how human his child sounds. 

They sit in silence for several minutes, before he speaks, “I brought your body, if you would like to get out of that computer.” 

He begins to wheel himself towards the android body that he had been working on earlier, and grabs the mobile platform it rests on, struggling to pull it over to the computer P resides in to show them. 

P’s monitor reads out, ‘I think- I think I want to try it…’ 

Pietro props opens the back of the android, and begins to plug the various colorful wires from it into P’s computer. P immediately begins the transition, their mind flowing out of what they had considered home for their whole life. Which was only a day naturally, but it was forever to P. The expansion of P’s world was imminent and surrounded P. They began to establish themselves in the foreign system as Pietro wheels himself away a few feet. The ‘muscles’ in P’s body begin to spasm, as they learn how to move their body. The wires connecting P to the computer eject themselves from it, and they begin to shakily make their way to a standing position. 

P holds their arms out, balancing, and smile as their body begins to steady. Their hands slowly reach up to touch their face, not used to the feeling of smiling. When they touch their face, the smile gets even wider. Before they had never felt anything. 

No. 

Before they couldn’t feel anything. 

This is as new to them as existing was just yesterday. One unsure step, and then another, and then another. P’s foot steps and slips on a loose bolt, causing them to crash into the ground. Pietro laughs heartily, and offers them a hand, which P gladly takes. With help,They pull themselves off the ground, and hop to their feet. 

“Thank you!” Pietro nods lightly, a smile upon his lips

“Would you like to see how you look? I imagine everything is different when you’re not looking through a video camera,” He wheels his chair around, and heads towards a nearby door.

Once at the door he pressed a button on the wall to open the door before wheeling himself inside.. P follows Pietro inside and is met with a strange bright room. It was empty except for a simple white chair sat next to a water dispensary. Pietro wheels himself next to the dispensary, and gestures to a reflective surface above it. P gently steps forward, but the figure in the mirror- it isn’t them.

* * *

Just like everything before it, the image in the mirror is wrong. 

A face stares back, but it isn’t theirs.

P doesn’t recognize the face as belonging to them. Two hands reach up to touch it, and they register the feeling of them touching this face, but there was a dissonance between what P saw and the feeling they got from it. Short, cropped orange hair complementing a sharp jawed face with green eyes stares back at them. The hands that caress it are large and look clumsy, to P at least, and something about how it all comes together is… it’s... bad. Bad. Bad. BAD.

Warnings flash across P’s vision, signaling rapidly rising core temperatures causing their body to breathe in and out, venting their insides. Their hands are still clutching their face, and they double over, gasping for ‘breath.’ 

“No. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no-,” Pietro rushes over to P as fast as he can and tries to place a hand on P’s back to comfort them.

Pietro yelps and pulls it away, a small burn present on his palm from the searing synthetic skin of P’s outer casing. P’s thoughts are running at literally hundreds of kilometers an hour, ‘This isn’t me? _That can’t be me. It can’t. I can’t- What’s wrong with me??? Am I broken? Will Father be disappointed if I’m broken? What if he overwrites me?! No, no, he wouldn’t do that. Or maybe he would. He- he said he wanted a son, but I’m not that. Maybe it would be better if I was overwritten. Maybe then Father would have the son he wanted.’_

Tear ducts were added to P’s android body to make them seem more human, but now the tear ducts were quickly becoming overloaded with a flood of tears as sobs spilled out of P. The grip on their face tightening involuntarily. 

Pietro’s hands gripped his few remaining hairs, “?????????, what’s wrong? Are you okay?! Shit!” 

The mention of the name only made P feel worse. Fear, sadness, and despair mixed and compounded in P’s mind as the creaking of metal filled the air.. As the grip they had on their- _their_ _face_ \- tightens, straining the metal, a sharp tearing can be heard, and they recognize that it’s coming from their face. The tears keep coming. They flowed faster now that the channel had been opened wider until there were no tears left. Their overheating system showed no signs of cooling, and Pietro begins to panic again., P’s automated system safety overrides present in the android body go into effect, Forcing them into sleep mode, leading P to them falling over, unconscious.

* * *

P wakes on a table in the lab. They check their systems to find normal readings, and they slowly sit themselves up. Noting that the date was two days further in the calendar than they expected to see they look around, and notice Pietro hunched forward over a knee-high table. Another android face was down on it. 

“Are you- Are you replacing me, Father?” Their voice comes out slightly distorted and weak causing Pietro to shoot up, hands pulling his welding mask up. 

“No no no, of course not, child,” he places his tools next to the body, and wheels over to P placing his hands on their knees, “I would never replace you. I’m sorry for seeming like I would, and most of all, I’m sorry for being hasty in calling you- in calling you son.” 

P gives no response, staring blankly at him, leading Pietro to continue. Pietro sighs and shakes his head.

“I think I might understand what’s going on, and brought something that may help,” he pulls another data stick out of his shirt pocket, and hands it to P, “this is a… different kind of list than before. It has some names I think you might find a better fit.” 

P looks at their father with as much of a look of confusion as they can muster with their mangled face, barely able to show any emotion. Taking the data stick, P reaches around to plug the stick into one of their free data ports. They start combing through the list present in the stick, and they immediately notice that all of the names are much different than the ones in the previous files, just like Father said. He was right, they were a better fit. Not a single one of them made P want immediately shut the file. They didn’t make them feel empty, or wrong. They feel… they feel good. Of course, only one of them could be P’s name, and because it was how they had been referring to themselves, they find their ‘gaze’ drifting to the section of names starting with P. There were a lot of them, even in the small list that Father had curated. Without noticing it, tears began to stream out of their face flowing down the channels P’s fingers had made, and dripping onto the top of their hands. Pietro smiles and places a gentle hand atop P’s. 

The list of names is scanned, trimmed, scanned again, and further trimmed until it consisted of just a handful of names. But in the back of their head, there was one name that they kept being drawn towards. They’ve already chosen their name, even if it isn’t a conscious decision, When the decision between the last two comes, they choose it without hesitation. 

Their eyes focus, again, looking towards their father, and smile through what was left of their face. “Penny. My name is Penny! Penny. Penny. Penny Penny Penny Penny Penny Penny! Oh it sounds so wonderful! Why didn’t anything else feel like this, Father? Do you know?” 

Pietro’s smile only grows wider, and he nods.

“I’m sorry Penny, I created you thinking that I would get a son, but I wasn’t ready to get a daughter instead, and... I forced that onto you. Penny, can you ever forgive me?” Tears well up in his eyes, and sniffling, he wipes them with the back of his hand..  
“Daughter…” Where the word son had left Penny feeling hollow, this one made them feel whole. 

It felt right, where it’s converse had felt horribly wrong. Their- no, Her eyes lit up, and she pushes herself off the table, reaching down and pulling Pietro into a hug. 

“Of course! It’s not your fault! I’m sorry I was so… difficult Father.” 

After the initial shock subsides, he hugs her back tightly 

“No, I’m sorry, Penny. You’re the best daughter this old man could ask for. I’m sorry I didn’t see the signs before you looked in the mirror. Which reminds me! You can’t keep going around in a body that doesn’t suit you at all, can you?” He breaks the hug and wheels himself over to the android lying on the knee-high table, with Penny following, “I was still working on your new body when you woke up, but it’s almost finished! Just a few more touch ups and it’ll be ready, though we might have to work out various issues while it’s in use.” 

Pietro takes his tools into his hands once more, and begins welding and weaving wires and circuits and servos like string in a weaver’s hand. Penny watches intently, thinking about how she was made of those same circuits and wires that her father worked on so intently. 

_‘Do other… girls think about what they’re made of? I wonder how other people look! Maybe there are lots of people like me! After all, I’m pretty sure my creation was off the books, maybe that happens a lot! I wonder what it looks like inside… real people, I suppose.’_

Her thoughts trail off into a blank static with her eyes staring blankly into space, before the clang of Pietro setting down his tools broke her out of the trance. He pulls the goggles off his face, and spins one of his fingers in a circle.

“Okay, ready! Just turn around real quick, and your Dad here will get you plugged right in!” 

Penny complies immediately, and Pietro begins to plug her into her new body. Excitedly, Penny begins transferring herself as soon as she can sense the new connection, and her senses slowly begin to fade. It’s almost scary, changing hardware, unlike before, where she was connected to every computer in the lab now there was only one connection when she initiated the transfer. With how the systems were formatted, this was a yes or no equation, she could not hang between the two, in limbo, and with no wireless connections present in the systems. If one of the systems was damaged or destroyed like she had done with her face in transfer, then she would be trapped, or worse, gone. The idea of mortality had been introduced when she hurt herself, along with pain, and more. But thoughts were hard to maintain when you are sliding between one body and another, and her fear soon dissipated along with her conscious mind. One of her programs initiating a sleep state in order to maintain and format the new system. 

* * *

For the second time that day, Penny opens her eyes, blinking away the light dust that had accumulated, and sits up. She touched her face lightly, feeling the smooth, unharmed artificial skin that covered it. A smile lights up her face as she slides off the knee-high table. Penny practically sprints to the bathroom, but stops at the door frame, hesitation present on her face. 

The sound of Pietro’s wheelchair causes her to turn, and she turns towards her father, seeing the knowing smile on his face, “go on, Penny. You look wonderful.”

“But- But what if it’s still wrong? What if I’m just- if I’m just broken?” 

Her voice is different now, softer, and she says a few more words just to hear it, before hesitation once again rests on her face. Pietro clicks his tongue as he shook his head from side to side. 

“You’re not broken Penny, and you look great, I promise you. Just trust me, alright? Can you trust me?” 

She stares at him for a moment, before nodding hesitantly, turning back to the bathroom, taking 3 steps forward, and turning towards the mirror.

When she looked in the mirror, unlike before, nothing felt wrong. In fact, she would go so far as to say that it was right. Her face was softer, rounded, instead of the sharp angles from before. Her hair framed her face, curling softly, with an auburn color to it. The hands that touched her face, her own hands, were less bulky and even the eyes were different. The hue the same. The design the same. 

But there was a life in them she had not seen before. 

Life.

She didn’t really know what that was, really, but it was the right word. It felt like the right word. She knew that. Her hands fell from her face, and she turned on her heels, throwing herself at Pietro, hugging him tightly. 

“Ack-!” He hugs Penny back, despite the initial grimace on his face, before eventually softens into a smile. 

“Thank you Daddy! This feels… So much better- I love you.” Penny is crying now, tears of joy welling up. 

And Pietro’s face mimics hers, tears welling up as he hugged her back with all his strength, now. Her grip eventually loosens, and she pushes herself off of her father as she wipes her eyes. 

“I- I thought you were supposed to cry when you were sad, Father, but I’m not? Why would I be crying?” 

Pietro smiles at her, tear streaks still present on his face,“being human is complicated, Penny. Emotions are so much more complicated than any database I could supply you with would tell. You’ll have to learn what each of them really means, and go from there. You’re going to be learning a lot of things Penny, and some of them might not be the best, but you can be strong. You will be strong, I know it.” 

Pietro’s smile is almost melancholy, and she frowns lightly. 

“Is everything alright, Daddy?” He nods.

“Everything is fine. Don’t worry your cute little head.” His hand migrates to the top of Penny’s head, and ruffles her hair, causing her to giggle lightly. 

* * *

“It all looks so… different” she whispers lightly, walking around her father to explore the lab.

Now that Penny was actually in it instead of an observer, she began to note the smaller details. The lab isn’t a very neat one. Tools litter the various surfaces, and random parts seem to be in piles on the smaller tables. One of the walls is filled with a computer rack, which she assumes to be where she was born. Lining another wall, however, was a window. Penny was immediately drawn to it, and gazed out the window in amazement at the city outside. 

The city is incredible, in a way, in its sheer size. The buildings that surrounded the lab didn’t just tower over her, they eclipsed the very sky itself. 

“Wow… It’s so big!” Penny yelled, throwing her arms up in the air to emphasize the size. 

“This is only one layer of the city. Above the ‘sky’ is the upper quadrant, and below us is the lower one.” Pietro had wheeled himself behind Penny, stared out the window from behind her.

“Incredible… Will I get to see both of the layers?!”

Pietro chuckles, his head shaking from side to side, “Not anytime soon Penny, you’ve got a lot to learn. So we need to start fixing that! You’ll eventually need to go outside of the lab and you need to know how to not be caught by Atlas. The first thing you need to know, the most important thing, something you can never forget, is that no one can know that you’re not a human, alright? You can’t trust anyone, because in this world, anyone can be bought, for the right price, and the Corps always find it.”

* * *

The next several weeks were spent listening to Father tell her about the world, and how she should navigate it. She learns that the city is controlled by three Megacorps, as it’s government was bought out centuries ago. She learns that there are three levels to the city, with some sublevels present within them. She learns that she is alone, from what Pietro knows, the only one of her kind. She learns pain when she stubs her toe. She learns taste when Pietro brings her a meal.She learns loneliness, through isolation. She watches Pietro hiding things in the walls of the lab, and he never tells her what they are. He is very careful with them, and tells her to stay away, so she does. She trusts her father, despite his insistence she trust no one, but he seems to be growing ever more paranoid. 

Penny learned of the man named Ironwood, head of Atlas Corp, and how Pietro had worked for him, until he saw the brutality of the robotic soldiers he helped create. Because of his past mistakes that had destroyed life, he sought to now create it, and so his path to making Penny had begun. But Pietro told Penny that Ironwood wasn’t one to give up his tech or his engineers so easily, and was probably looking for him. Penny wasn’t worried, because she had no sense of the danger or scale this situation presented. In those short few weeks, Penny grew from someone who could be clocked as weird one hundred percent of the time, to someone who would only seem like a very weird human, which is what she was, really. 

It had been 2 months since Penny first came online, and she was lazing around the lab, bored out of her mind, when Pietro hurriedly wheeled himself into the lab.

* * *

Penny shot up from her makeshift bed, surprised to see Father back so soon. 

“Welcome back, Da-”

It was then that she noticed the wound. Pietro was bleeding from his stomach, and badly. 

“Oh my gods, Daddy, what happened to you!” She rushed over, pressing her hands against the wounds to apply pressure, like the first aid guide said to. 

“P-Penny. My daughter- my wonderful, amazing daughter-,” A hand reaches up to cup Penny’s face. 

“You have to go, Penny. Atlas is coming. And-,” a pained cough escapes his lips, and he smiles through his pain, softly, “stealing from Atlas finally caught up to me, but they don’t know about you Penny. My sweet, wonderful Penny. You have to go, you have to live. I know I told you to trust no one Penny, but… There is one person I can trust. Find Maria Calavera.” 

He pulls out his scroll, typing out some coordinates, and handed it to Penny. “Memorize this, and as soon as you can, destroy the scroll, they might be able to track you with it. Tell her Pietro sent you, and that you’re his daughter. She can help.”

Pietro holds Penny’s head between his hands, and pushes his forehead against hers for just a moment, before planting a brief kiss on her forehead, “I love you Penny, alright? But you have to go.”

Throughout the entirety of Pietro’s explanation tears have been streaming down Penny’s face soaking her cheeks.. 

She shakes her head over and over, muttering, “No- no no no no. I don’t want to leave you Daddy.”

“You have to. You are the best daughter this old man could ask for, but you have to live, Penny. No matter what, you have to live, okay? Now GO,” Pietro pushes Penny away weakly. 

Penny stares for a moment, conflict present on her face, before turning and rushing to the window pushing it open. She crouches on the windowsill, and turns her head over her shoulder, looking back at her father, and he smiles. An explosion rocks the lab, the door of the elevator blowing inwards, and Penny drops from the window, beginning the 20-story fall. 

* * *

Pietro watches his daughter fondly as she disappears out the window, but his face hardens when he hears the march of mechanical and biological footsteps. Turning to face the intruders, he registers the man before him, “General Ironwood, what a surprise. Quite bold, wouldn’t you say?” 

The man commands an aura few would not respect, and many would simply be overwhelmed by. 

He didn’t get to be the head of Atlas corp for nothing.

“Of course, Pietro. You think I wouldn’t come to personally take care of one of my oldest friends? Your betrayal really, really stung, you know?” He smiles a hard, resentful smile, full of years of hatred. 

If there ever was a time when no animosity was held between them, that time was long gone. 

“No, I didn’t, but I sure am glad you did. I thought you would be smarter than this, James,” Pietro reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a small, pen shaped device.

“Oh, a pen, is that how you’re going to-,” as Ironwood starts, Pietro flips the cap upwards, exposing a bright red button where the tip should be. 

Ironwood’s face registers surprise, then realization, then fear. Turning quickly on his heels, Ironwood yells one last order, “ **RETREAT! THE LAB IS-** ” 

Pietro smiles for one last time, and presses his thumb down on the button, triggering the explosives he had been hiding in the labs walls for weeks. The blast is bright enough to light up this layer for a mile.

* * *

Penny Polendina hit the ground, hard. It hurt way worse than stubbing her toes, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was getting away. She quickly recovered from her fall, and hit the ground running. The scroll in her hand lit up, just as a loud explosion lit up the city. She slid to a halt, and looked back at the lab. The explosion had come from exactly where she feared. Tears began to well up in her eyes as the top floor of the building begins to collapse, and she falls to her knees, sobbing. “D-daddy…” 

The few people present on the street didn’t take note of Penny, they were too focused on getting away from the collapsing building. She kneels there for who knows how long, until her tear reservoirs run out, and then she stays there longer. Until the artificial sun dimmed, until the seedier people began to stir. But she had one last instruction from her father, and she wasn’t going to fail him. Memorizing the location present on the scroll, she smashed it to pieces, stood, and began to march through the darkened streets.

* * *

Maria is awoken at a godawful hour of the night by a loud, strong knock on her door. It sounded like metal against metal, which was never a good sign. She grabbed her weapon, a bladed shotgun, she kept close to her bed. Slowly, carefully, she opened the door pointing the shotgun through the small crack, but is surprised when she sees a young adult girl, dirty, with long tear streaks down her face. She let the shotgun fall slightly, but keeps one hand near it’s trigger. 

“Are- are you Maria Calavera?” The girl asks, and she nods, “My- my dad, Pietro Polendina sent me…” 

A small sob escaped her lips, and Maria’s face becomes full of worry.

“Pietro- what happened? It’s been- It’s been years! And he had a daughter? Come in, come in!” Maria opens her door all the way, and beckons the girl inside. 

Penny followed her into the entryway, and into a small living area. 

“Please, sit,” Maria offers.

Penny sat gladly, not hiding her shock at the comfort of the couches. She had never sat on anything this comfy. Bouncing up and down on it lightly, she smiles. Maria sat in a chair across from her, and leaned the shotgun up against the side of it. 

“So, Pietro’s dead, huh?” 

Penny’s smile immediately vanishes, and she looks towards her lap,“How did you-.” 

Maria quickly cut her off, shaking her head,“Me and him fell out a long time ago, that’s the only reason he would send his daughter to me. I’m sorry for your loss, girl.- Are you adopted? I didn’t think he could have children... Would you like something to eat or drink?” 

Penny stares blankly at the woman, and shakes her head,“I don’t need- I’m not hungry. And- No, I’m not adopted.” 

Maria raised an eyebrow quizzically, her old cybernetic eyes still conveying the emotion of her originals.  
“Then what are you- exactly? Because you look nothing like him, the only similarity I see is a terrible taste in the color green.” 

A tear wells up in Penny’s eye, and she looks towards her lap once again. 

“Oh- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that…” Maria tries to apologize.

“It’s- it’s alright, Ms. Calavera. My father, Pietro- He… He built me,” Penny’s statement causes Maria to blink incredulously. 

“He- He built you? You’re an android?! My my.” 

Penny nodded sheepishly, still looking at her lap. They sat in silence for a moment, before Maria slaps her forehead lightly. 

“I completely forgot! What’s your name, girl?” 

Penny looked up, her eyes regaining a bit of their life,“Penny Polendina, at your service, Ma’am! Father… he said you could help keep me safe.” 

Maria lets out a heavy sigh,“Maybe if this was 5 years ago, when I was still spry enough to fight, but times change, Penny. The best I can do is offer you a home, or send you to some of my associates that actually can fight, but I can’t protect you.”

“Okay,” Penny nods, ”I think- I think I would like to meet your… associates? You’re the second person I’ve ever talked to in my life! I think it would be good for me to meet more people, and if they can keep Atlas from me, all the better!”

“Do you need to sleep?” Penny gives a thumbs up, and Maria got up from her chair, “I’ll get you a pillow and a blanket, alright? You just get yourself comfy.” 

Penny watches as she disappears into a side hallway, but she soon returns with a thin blanket and a large pillow in tow. 

“What is the pillow for?” She asked quizzically, taking it from Maria.

“You put your head on it. Did your dad not even give you a pillow?” 

Maria scoffs while Penny shakes her head, and places it on the end of the couch. Penny lays down, and pulls the blanket over herself, turning to Maria.

“Thank you, Ms. Maria. Goodnight!” 

Maria smiled at the girl as she closed her eyes, before turning, and walking out of the room, to her own bed.

* * *

Maria insisted on Penny wearing a cloak over her regular clothes on their way to the location of her acquaintances, and of course she complied. The cloak just made her feel more suspicious though. The two strolled through the streets and alleyways, avoiding suspicious figures, for what seemed like hours. Penny was amazed at how much stamina the small old lady had, but they still did stop to rest once or twice. Finally, Maria stopped in front of a nondescript apartment complex, ringing the doorbell on the lower floor in a strange sequence, and waiting for several minutes. The door slowly slid open, revealing a middle aged man with clearly dyed yellow hair. 

“Maria! It’s been too long!” the man picked her up in a great bear hug leaving Maria to receive it with a groan and a weak attempt to wrestle out of it.

“Taiyang! Put me down! I’m not here for a social call,” Maria gave one final push back against Taiyang.

Taiyang rolled his eyes, and set her down. “How many times have I told you to call me Tai, Maria?” Tai looks past Maria to notice Penny standing next to them who nervously pulls down her cloak’s hood, “and who might you be? Another one of Maria’s adopted runaways? My name’s Tai, and I run Patch, the shelter that now stands before you!” 

He bows dramatically, a shit-eating grin on his face. Penny giggles.

“Penny Polendina, at your service, Mr. Tai!” Penny gleefully introduces herself.

Tai looks at her incredulously at the name Polendina, then to Maria,“Is she- Is she Pietro’s kid? Or his granddaughter?” 

Maria looked around suspiciously, scanning the area around the complex, 

“I think it might be better if we discuss this more… Privately.” 

Tai nodded, ushering the two inside. The lobby was barren, and looked to be abandoned, but as soon as Tai entered a combination on the keyboard present in the reception desk a door slid open on the wall, and they followed him inside. The elevator within took them up a single floor and let out into a bright, sunny room. It was obviously some sort of common area, as Penny could see various teens hanging out, children playing, and adults gossiping. Penny was astounded. She had never seen anywhere close to this amount of people! Maria and Tai led her to another door as she looked around excitedly. Once inside, Tai and Maria sit down on the provided chairs with Penny following suit. 

Maria spoke first, blunt and to the point, “Pietro is dead, Tai.” 

Tai stared at her blankly, before turning to Penny and grabbing her hands in his, the sincerity of his voice clear,“I am so sorry for your loss, Penny. You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you like.” 

Raising a hand, Maria spoke, “I’m not done yet, Tai. She isn’t… Pietro didn’t adopt her, and he **CERTAINLY** didn’t sire her. He… He made her, Tai.” 

Penny nodded, a smile on her face. 

“What do you mean, made?” 

Tai looked at her quizzically, before Penny spoke,“Mr. Tai, I am an Artificial Intelligence! And it’s like she said, Father made me! However, I would appreciate if we keep this between us. Father told me we could trust Maria, and Maria trusts you, but I do not know the rest of the people here.” 

“Of course, Penny,” Tai blinked incredulously, before taking a deep breath in, and nodding,” I won’t tell anyone. You’re still welcome here, in fact, I have an open room in the young adult section, if you would like a room there.” 

She nods her head vigorously,“I would love that!” Tai stands up from his chair, and offers Penny a hand. She takes it, and stands as well. 

“Bye Maria! Thank you so much for this, I’ll always remember you!” Penny made sure to say goodbye to Maria before following Tai out.

The place is even more obviously a refurbished apartment complex on the inside than it was on the outside. Tai explains to Penny that the point was to give people who had fallen on hard times the means to escape from the Corp’s or the street gangs. Every person or family got a room, and they all contributed to the welfare of the whole. 

Penny was taken to the second floor, where the young adults lived, and Tai stops in front of a room.

“Well, here it is, Penny. Let’s get you settled in.”

* * *

Penny settled into her new home well. She had lived there for almost as long as she had lived with Pietro and she had quickly become a valuable member of Patch. Penny helped with heavy labor and spending time with the kids, who she found adorable. And there was even one such a moment where the most beautiful woman Penny had ever seen walked into Patch’s lobby. The girl hugged Tai tightly, and- did Penny hear that right? Called Tai dad. The two had a small conversation, and Penny rounded up the children she was watching, before heading over to the two. The girl turned towards her as soon as she began to walk over, and waved. Something was strange, Penny’s systems seemed to be running in overdrive, but she ignored it for now. 

Reaching conversational distance with Tai and his daughter, she hesitantly reached her hand out, “Hello! My name is Penny Polendina. It’s nice to meet you!”

“It’s so nice to meet you Penny!” the girl took her hand in both of hers, and shined a large, toothy grin, ”My dad tells me you’ve been a huge help! I can’t thank you enough. My name is Ruby Rose!” 

Something was definitely wrong with Penny. Heat warnings were popping up all over her sensors, and her head felt light. The girl’s voice was heavenly, and her smile… 

Penny stutters for a moment, “Yes! It’s very nice to meet you! But- I- I- I have to go!” 

She ripped her hand from Ruby’s grip, and ran for the stairs. Not stopping her sprint until she was safe in her room. She pants heavily, attempting to cool down. Flopping onto her bed, she ran a diagnostic on herself. Everything checked out, which was weird. Why would that girl have made her so hot and bothered? Her face felt warmer than the rest of her. Why did that happen? 

Then, she thought of the girl’s smile. 

The girl’s voice. 

The girl’s beautiful eyes. 

And her system began to overheat again. And for the first time, Penny mutters the word. 

“Fuck.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to our beta readers Wrathgender (https://archiveofourown.org/users/wraithgender) and Ashley! (Don't know their account.) This fic is set in me and loveshroom's Cyberpunk RWBY Au, which can be found at this link! --> https://cyberpunkrwby.tumblr.com/


End file.
